Archives for January 2009

This space is for you to share your ideas on anything that you consider relevant today.

You can publish here excerpts from your blogs or news and articles in general that you think make a difference to the world today. Try to make a bit of editing on what you post here – try to highlight passages with copy-paste, rather than simply giving links.

Please keep in mind that this blog is currently viewed by 230.000 unique visitors a month, and chances are that many of them are going to read your thoughts.

Because he believes in miracles, miracles begin to happen. Because he is sure that his thought can change his life, his life begins to change. Because he is sure that he will find love, this love appears.

From time to time he is disappointed. Sometimes he gets hurt.

And then he hears comments like: “that fellow’s so naive!”

But the warrior knows that it is all worthwhile. For each defeat he counts two victories in his favor.

Do you believe in reincarnation? Do you have the experience of having lived on this earth in other lives, other times?
In Brida you talk in depth about the soul dividing and that is why we may meet more than one soul mate in a lifetime. The Bhagavad Gita says the soul is indestructible, that water cannot wet it, fire cannot burn it, the wind cannot dry it and the sword cannot pierce it(and In The Flowing River you have quoted this verse). Please do share your views on this. And thank you for this link where I can finally address you on the blog! Ah! Thank You.

Dear Sheela,

more than to believing or not in reincarnation, I think that it is interesting that you quote the Bhagavad Gita about the imperishable soul.
In a way, the idea of reincarnation is not at all linked with this concept of indestructible and imperishable soul. Indeed, the soul exists despite our manifested world.
Our world is a world of mutation whereas the soul is above this constant flow.
The spirit is the spark that lives in each one of us – and hasn’t got anything to do with the ego – which is a result of our distance with the divine.

However, everyone knows that the bar in the Hotel Martinez is where the powerful people hang out, which means there’s always a chance of meeting them.

It doesn’t even occur to the hopefuls that the Powerful only talk to the Powerful, that they need to get together now and then for lunches and suppers, to lend allure to the big festivals, to feed the fantasy that the world of luxury and glamour is accessible to all those with the courage to pursue an idea, to avoid any non-lucrative wars and to promote aggression between countries or companies where they feel this might bring them more power and more money, to pretend that they’re happy, even though they’re now hostage to their own success, to continue struggling to increase their wealth and influence, even when both those things are already vast, because the vanity of the Superclass consists in competing with itself to see who is the top of the tops.

In an ideal world, the Powerful would talk to the actors, directors, designers and writers who are now bleary-eyed with tiredness and thinking about going back to their rented rooms in distant towns, so that tomorrow they can begin again the marathon of making requests, fixing possible meetings, and being endlessly ready and available.

In the real world, the Powerful are, at this moment, locked in their rooms, checking their e-mails, complaining that these Festival parties are always the same, that their friend was wearing a bigger jewel than they were, and asking how come the yacht a competitor has just bought has a totally unique décor?

Igor has no one to talk to, nor does he want to talk. The winner stands alone.

Igor is the successful owner and president of a telephone company in Russia. A year ago, he reserved the best suite in the Martinez (which makes everyone pay up-front for at least twelve nights, regardless of how long they’ll be staying); he arrived this afternoon in his private jet, was driven to the hotel, where he took a bath and then went downstairs in the hope of witnessing one particular scene.

At first, he was pestered by actresses, actors and directors, until he came up with the perfect response for them all:

‘Don’t speak English, sorry. Polish.’

Or:

‘Don’t speak French, sorry. Mexican.’

When someone ventured a few words in Spanish, Igor tried another ploy. He started writing down numbers in a notebook so as to look neither like a journalist (because everyone wants to meet journalists) nor a movie mogul. Beside him lay a Russian economics magazine (most people can’t tell Russian from Polish or Spanish) with the photo of some boring executive on the cover.

The denizens of the bar, who pride themselves on their keen understanding of the human race, leave Igor in peace, thinking that he must be one of those millionaires who comes to Cannes in search of a new girlfriend. That, at least, is the rumour doing the rounds by the time the fifth person has sat down at his table and ordered a mineral water, alleging that there are no other free seats. Igor is duly relegated to the category of ‘perfume’.

‘Perfume’ is the slang term used by actresses (or ‘starlets’ as they’re called at the Festival) because, as with perfumes, it’s easy enough to change brands, but one of them might just turn out to be a real find. ‘Perfumes’ are sought out during the last two days of the Festival, if the actresses in question haven’t managed to pick up anything or anyone of interest in the movie industry. For the moment, then, this strange, apparently wealthy man can wait. Actresses know that it’s always best to leave the Festival with a new boyfriend (whom they might, later on, be able to transform into a film producer) than to move on to the next event and go through the same old ritual – drinking, smiling (must keep smiling), and pretending that you’re not looking at anyone, while your heart beats furiously, time ticks rapidly on, and there are still gala nights to which you haven’t yet been invited, but to which the ‘perfumes’ have.

They know what the ‘perfumes’ are going to say because they always say the same thing, but they pretend to believe them anyway.

(a) ‘I could change your life.’

(b) ‘A lot of women would like to be in your shoes.’

(c) ‘You’re young now, but what will become of you in a few years’ time. You need to think about making a longer-term investment.’

(d) ‘I’m married, but my wife…’ (this opening line can have various endings: ‘…is ill’, ‘…has threatened to commit suicide if I leave her’, etc.)

(e) ‘You’re a princess and deserve to be treated like one. I didn’t know it until now, but I’ve been waiting for you. I don’t believe in coincidences and I really think we ought to give this relationship a chance.’

It’s always the same old spiel. The only variable is how many presents you get (preferably jewellery, which can be sold), how many invites to yacht parties, how many visiting cards you collect, how many times you have to listen to the same chat-up lines, and whether you can wangle a ticket to the Formula 1 races where you’ll get to mingle with the same class of people and where your ‘big chance’ might be there waiting for you.

‘Perfume’ is also the word used by young actors to refer to elderly millionairesses, all plastic and botox, but who are, at least, more intelligent than their male counterparts. They never waste any time: they, too, arrive in the final days of the Festival, knowing that money provides their only pulling power.

The male ‘perfumes’ deceive themselves: they think that the long legs and youthful faces have genuinely fallen for them and can now be manipulated at will. The female ‘perfumes’ put all their trust in the power of their diamonds.

Igor knows nothing of all this. This is his first time at the Festival. And he has just realised that, much to his surprise, no one here seems very interested in films, except the people in that bar. He has leafed through a few magazines, opened the envelope in which his company has placed the invitations to the most prestigious parties, but not one of them is for a film première. Before travelling to France, he tried to find out which films were in the running, but had great difficulty in obtaining this information. Then a friend said:

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This space is for you to share your ideas on anything that you consider relevant today.

You can publish here excerpts from your blogs or news and articles in general that you think make a difference to the world today. Try to make a bit of editing on what you post here – try to highlight passages with copy-paste, rather than simply giving links.

Please keep in mind that this blog is currently viewed by 230.000 unique visitors a month, and chances are that many of them are going to read your thoughts.

A warrior of the light knows his defects. But he also knows his qualities.

Some of his companions complain all the time: “the others have more chances than we have.”

They may be right, but a warrior does not let that paralyze him, and tries to make the most of his virtues.

He knows that the power of the gazelle is the ability of her legs. The power of the seagull lies in her sure aim at striking the fish. He has learned that a tiger is unafraid of the hyena because he is aware of his own strength.

A warrior seeks to know what he can rely on. He always checks his equipment, comprised of three things: faith, hope and love.

I have long thought of an inner voice, something that is inherent to all of us, just to have people look at me as if I am crazy.. My question is this: is this voice innate? Is this second voice or inner voice tempered or changed by our life and it’s past experiences, or is it something that is part of our consciousness from the moment of our birth, and it says what it says to us regardless of our experiences? Can we change what it says, or is it there from God regardless of what we live through. Is it simply our conscious? And how do you know that you are listening to this voice and it is being true to you, and doesn’t have a selfish agenda fueled by its own selfish motives?

Dear Gary,

to be able to hear our inner voice is in itself a journey. This inward quest for our true self may seem alien at first but – as a north star – it guides us, as long as we have faith.
I don’t think it is consciousness that guides us to our inner self – it is actually something that is outside of ourselves that murmur to our soul.
To be able to distinguish the true voice from our desires is also a path : in the beginning there will be many mistakes, false leads. But with time and forgiveness, we start hearing this voice more clearly and we develop our own silenced “alphabet”.

The friends of the warrior of the light wonder where his energy comes from. He answers: “from the hidden enemy.”

His friends ask him who that is.

The warrior answers: “someone we cannot hurt.”

It may be a boy who beat him in a fight when they were youngsters, the girlfriend who left him at the age of eleven, the teacher who called him stupid.

The hidden enemy becomes a stimulus. When the warrior is tired, he remembers that he has yet to show his courage.

He does not think about vengeance, because the hidden enemy is no longer part of his history. He thinks only of improving his skills so that his feats can be known to all and reach the ears of those who have hurt him in the past.

Hello, Do you see a difference between knowing something and believing something?

Dear John,
there is a difference.
Knowning means that you perceive something only with the eye of the mind, that you can understand “how” something works. It’s basically rational.
Believing in the other hand is to perceive something with the heart, with your intuition and not being preocupied with demonstrating it’s true or not. Belief is then a leap of faith, the taking of a risk, the acceptance of the mystery.
Of course, many turn their beliefs into marble and this can cause a lot of misery.
But I think that if one beliefs with humility and temperance, then belief is the road leads to the core of life.

This space is for you to share your ideas on anything that you consider relevant today.

You can publish here excerpts from your blogs or news and articles in general that you think make a difference to the world today. Try to make a bit of editing on what you post here – try to highlight passages with copy-paste, rather than simply giving links.

Please keep in mind that this blog is currently viewed by 230.000 unique visitors a month, and chances are that many of them are going to read your thoughts.